


One Text Away

by The19Club



Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Drama, Elizabeth Olsen - Freeform, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Lesbian Sex, Romance, Sarah Paulson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24644536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The19Club/pseuds/The19Club
Summary: A simple little quid pro quo can create a lot of chaos... Or an epic love story.Elizabeth Olsenas LeighSarah Paulsonas Grace





	One Text Away

**Author's Note:**

> One Text Away is written by S.C. and M.S. using a special collaborative writing method. Each chapter is written by one person, without the supervision or assistance of the other (some requests or suggestions are granted). We thus discover the chapters once completed, justifying possible inconsistencies or different writing styles. A final pass is made together on the chapters in order to adjust them or correct certain elements. We hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as we liked writing it :) 
> 
> Chapter 1: S.C.  
> Chapter 2: S.C.  
> Chapter 3: M.S.  
> Chapter 4: S.C.  
> Chapter 5: M.S.
> 
> Warning: We are not native English speakers! If you see any errors (grammatical or vocabulary ones), please tell us so we can correct them :) Thanks!

One thing to know about Leigh is that she's always late. No matter how hard she tries to be on time, she always ends up being late. It's almost a genetic trait in her, being late runs in her DNA.

Her alarm – already been snoozed for the fifth time now – is set to go off any minute now. The alarm goes off with its shrieking noise as she rolls over in her bed. She tries to stop the awful beeping noise attacking her ears – and soon her roommate's ears - but she only manages to drop her alarm, which continues to ring on the floor, unbothered.

"Leigh!" She hears her roommate's voice across from her room. Grumbling to herself, she gets up this time. Exceeded by the repeating sound coming from her alarm she takes the batteries out. _Finally, some peace and quiet._ A short moment after, Tessa – her roommate – storms into her room. Tessa stands on the doorstep with her arms crossed and her angry look that Leigh knows too well. Her heated expression amuses Leigh most of the time but sometimes it scares her.

"You know that I need my beauty sleep." Tessa says rubbing her temples.

"Who cares about beauty sleep, you're smoking hot." Leigh says, trying to soften her up.

"Don't try to sweeten me up, okay. Keep that for your girlfriends."

"Girlfriends? Plural? Can I meet them? Because last time I checked, I was single."

"We wonder why that is." Her roommate says sarcastically.

Leigh tosses one of her pillows but it lands at the foot of Tessa without even touching her.

"And she doesn't know how to aim. Just get your ass ready."

Leigh makes her way to the shower. The good thing about this apartment is that everyone has their own bathroom. It was a non-negotiable factor for Tessa when they decided to move into a bigger place. That way, when she wakes up late and hogs the bathroom, she doesn't make Tessa late anymore. We could say that this is a win-win situation.

The water is burning hot but that's how Leigh likes it. She could stay there for hours, but unfortunately for her, she has to hurry. She finally gets out of the shower when she realizes she's running late, again. As she makes her way back to her room, she sees Tessa who had fallen back asleep in her room. She gently closes the door to avoid pissing off her roommate by waking her up again. After taking some time to get dressed, Leigh is finally ready. She went with a classic outfit: a blue-washed skinny jeans and an _ironed_ white shirt. A real blessing when you know how much she hates ironing anything. While trying to grab her phone on her bedside table, the device slips out of her hands and falls to the ground with a dull sound. She curses herself and hopes it didn't wake the beast up. _So far, so good._

Leigh puts on her headphones and runs down the stairs at full speed, a morning routine she's been familiar with for a year now. She picks up her trusty bike in the hallway and she opens Spotify. Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon is playing at maximum volume in her ears. Leigh travels around the city often on her bike. Her parents think it's as dangerous as a motorcycle. If they were to find out that she also occasionally rides a motorcycle, they would probably have a heart attack. _But what they don't know can't harm them, right?_

***

At the bookstore, Hunter is already here and doesn't seem to be very busy. Leigh could use a slow day at the store as she's fallen behind in writing her thesis.

She found this job thanks to Hunter (also preparing a thesis but probably more organized than her). Hunter's brother is a friend of the owner of the bookstore. This is one of those places where hipsters exclusively hang out. Occasionally, housewives (the one who swears only by yoga and detox teas) come in search of the latest book recommended by Reese Witherspoon. Let's not forget about students who love expensive coffee and free Wi-Fi. The place was furnished with a tasteful style, a mix between an industrial and a cozy look. Leigh could understand the attraction of this place. She even had been surprised to stay here to work rather than go home when her shift had been over for hours.

She throws her bag behind the counter and approaches Hunter who is reading what seems to be a recipe book.

"Spoiler-alert: I think the eggs end badly at the end." Leigh jokes.

"Nice to have you here at last to work. You're only about 25 minutes late." Hunter replies.

"I...overslept?"

"Are you asking me?" Her co-worker states, raising his eyebrows.

"So, anyway. Do books need to be sorted or coffees need to be brewed? You _know_ how much I _love_ to store books. It's the _only thing_ I've ever been passionate about in my life."

"Now, that you're asking. We just received a large number of Reese Witherspoon's latest recommendations." Hunter points out four huge boxes placed near the storage room. "They're not going to store themselves." He winks playfully.

Leigh clears the front of the shop to install a few copies of the books and then goes to the shelves to place some more. She spends her morning tidying up and filling up shelves. It should not be long before the housewives arrive to purchase a copy as they usually do their yoga in the morning and their shopping in the afternoon.

She joins Hunter behind the counter when a blonde woman enters the shop, and with a nudge, she catches Hunter's attention.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" Leigh says, tilting her head at the unknown woman walking towards one of the freshly displayed copies.

"Do you know her?"

"Not yet. But I will." The young bookseller winks with a naughty smile.

"You can't use 'look what the cat dragged in' if you don't know her, it doesn't make any sense to say that."

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were the expression police." Leigh says sarcastically. She has seen the unknown blonde several times, but she doesn't want Hunter to see it as stalking. _I wasn't._ Leigh just has a good sense of observation. _Fine, I stalked. A little._

"What's the plan here? Are you going to go ask her if she's single?"

"Probably if it was 1952." She says ironically.

"What?" He shrugs. "That's how I ask girls out. But yeah, it is not always an effective method."

Leigh is about to go talk to the blonde when a group of housewives rushes into her. _Great, this is going to be fun._

"Good afternoon, ladies. I believe you're here for the book on display?" The bookseller asks nicely, already knowing the answer.

"Exactly. How did you know?" Asks one of the women, still wearing her yoga outfit.

"Just a wild guess." Leigh says smiling at the group. "Follow me."

The group of women follows her like a herd of poodles to whom we would have promised kibbles. She retrieves five brand new copies from the shelf and hands them.

"Is there anything else you need?" She asks politely but she already knows they're going to say no. They made the trip only for this particular book. As expected, they say no. Leigh asks them to meet her at the checkout so they can pay.

"Did you know that this is the latest book recommended by Reese Witherspoon?" Says one of the housewives with a lot of excitement as Leigh is putting the book in a paper bag.

"Oh, really? No, I didn't know that. Is she the one who starred in 'The Devil Wears Prada'?" She asks naively. _Pissing off housewives is my second hobby after organizing books._

"No, that's Anne Hathaway." The woman replies offended.

"Are you sure? I'm talking about the villain in the movie."

"That's Meryl Streep." She replies even more upset.

"Sorry. I always get them mixed up." Leigh jokes. _Of course, I know that Meryl Streep is the villain. I've seen this movie a hundred times._ "Have a lovely afternoon, ladies". She says as she hands out the last bag and gives them her fakest smile. The women left. _Okay, let's go hitting on that blonde now._

She approaches the blonde who is sitting in one of the leather armchairs near the windows. She's reading a book. _Makes sense since we're in a bookstore. Is she reading 'The 100'? Oh, my God. She has bad tastes in reading._

"Hey. Do you need anything?"

The blonde looks up. She has green eyes and her makeup is perfect. She smiles in a strange way, which Leigh immediately notices.

"You're probably judging me because I'm reading a teen novel. But my sister's birthday is coming up, she's turning 16. Anyway, I'm just looking for some suitable reading for her." She says hesitant but in a cute way.

"I was just coming to see if you wanted a coffee or a muffin. I can help you find a book though. Probably _not_ this one." Leigh says as she gently pulls the book out of the blonde's hands.

"All right, follow me..." She says, deliberately leaving her sentence hanging so that the blonde could use the opportunity to say her name.

"Hmm. Grace. My name is Grace."

"All right, Grace." Leigh smiles proudly. _Works every damn time._

She takes her to the alley containing the classics of Russian literature, her personal favorite.

"It may be said that the classics of Russian literature are a little pompous. But in my humble opinion, they are great." She takes a copy of Anna Karenina from Tolstoy off the shelf and hands it to the blonde.

"How pretentious is it to offer a book I haven't read?" Grace asks with a flirtatious smile.

"In that case." She takes a second copy of the book. "I suggest you read it and if you don't like it, I'll give you a full refund and we'll settle for 'The 100'?" _Ugh, just saying that title makes me want to puke._ She responds playfully.

"It's a deal then."

As she was about to charge her for the books, Hunter asks her to take care of another customer. _Great, another housewife._

"Sorry, duty calls. I'll see you at the checkout?" The blonde nods her head as a reply. Leigh gets the two copies from the blonde's hands and goes to the cash register. Once at the checkout, she quickly scribbles her phone number on a piece of paper and slips it into one of Anna Karenina's copies. And finally addresses the woman in front of her.

"A fan of Reese Witherspoon's book club, may I presume?" But the woman is very graceful and stylishly dressed not like the soccer moms from before. The client looks at her confused. She doesn't seem to have a clue why she's being told about Reese Witherspoon.

"I'm familiar with Reese Witherspoon's body of work but that is not why I'm here." She pauses. "I'm looking for these books."

Leigh stares at her as the woman searches for something in her bag. She hands her a piece of paper with book titles written in a very beautiful handwriting. Leigh reads the paper quickly. In addition, to be incredibly classy, the woman has excellent taste. Now, she feels bad for assuming what that book connoisseur was looking for. A strange magnetic attraction radiates from the woman standing in front of her; Leigh is drawn to it.

"I would have thought you'd have read all these books by now." Leigh tries to make small talk.

"Why? Because I'm a middle-aged woman?" She says, raising one of her thick eyebrows. Leigh tries to correct herself but she stays speechless; to her surprise, the woman laughs.

"I'm just teasing." She says amused. "Of course, I've read them. They're not for me. They're a gift."

"You have very good taste." She finally manages to form words. The client nods with approval. Leigh blushes while staring at the light brown woman's eyes. She notices that she is holding a copy of her favorite book: Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.

"It's one of my favorites." She points to the book the woman is holding.

"A classic of Russian literature. One of my favorites too."

"I'll go get the rest of your requests off the shelves." She says as she puts the paper in the back pocket of her skinny jeans.

Leigh is collecting the woman's items from her list when she hears a loud noise near the coffee machine, followed by Hunter grumbling. The bookseller turns over the counter to see what's happening but is abruptly interrupted by Grace who asks if she could pay because she is in a hurry. _Oh, I totally forgot about her._

"Sure, follow me." Leigh replies with her arms full of books.

When arriving next to the counter, she sees a grumpy Hunter cleaning coffee stains off the floor and the stylish woman helping him with paper towels.

"Sorry I was just helping your colleague cleaning up." The gracious woman says while going back to the customer side of the counter. Leigh just nods and lays all of her books in front of her. She makes sure to separate in two piles the two different women's orders. She makes a mental note, left side for Grace, and right side for the elegant woman. Leigh cashes out the young blonde woman and puts the two copies of the Russian book in a brown paper She smiles at her with a very meaningful grin. Leigh hopes Grace will take the hint and text her. She turns her attention back to the older customer and slides all her orders in another bag.

"Don't forget that copy of Anna Karenina." The customer points to the only book left on the counter. Leigh mechanically picks it up and adds it to the bag.

"I've taken the liberty of putting in an additional reading. I think you'll like it." Leigh says as she hands her the bag. "It's free of charges, of course." She smiles awkwardly then the woman smiles back at her as an answer and leaves the store.

***

A few hours later, Leigh is focused on her thesis when her phone buzzes on the wooden counter. The vibration of the phone distracts her; it's a text message from Tessa. **_I'm dying of boredom. Any plans for tonight?_** Which makes Leigh smile. As she's wondering what to say to Tessa, a second bubble appears in the conversation. **_Don't you dare leave me on read._** She chuckles while she writes a response. _**Nothing planned for tonight. Still working on my thesis.**_ After a short pause, her phone chimes again. **_Ok. I think I'll just order some Chinese and pass out on the couch. I'll leave the leftovers in the fridge if there are any left..._**

She tries to get back to her thesis but she is not able to do so, she is no longer in the mood to work. She looks at the time on the watch on her wrist. Technically, her shift ended 13 minutes ago. A sudden craving for noodles wakes up in her stomach. She asks Hunter if he wants her to close the store, he tells her she can leave. She gathers her things, swears to be on time on Monday. He tells her that he is not her manager therefore he does not care and that he is ready to bet ten bucks that she will be late again.

"You know what? Challenge accepted." She says with confidence.

"Fine. Easy money for me."

"We'll see about that." She says as she leaves the store.

She climbs on her bike and sends a text message to Tessa saying she's joining her for dinner and that she had better be ordering for two. **_And don't forget the noodles!!! You're the best! Will be home soon._**

The ride to her apartment is easy, it's almost a direct line. This allows her to enjoy her music and the view. Her parents also used to live in Portland but decided to move two years ago to Seattle which is almost a three hours' drive. She remembers that it's already been over a month since she's visited them. Her brother travels back and forth from Seattle to San Francisco for his job. Sometimes, he makes a stop to Portland to see her. _Mental note: call brother._ Leigh didn't realize how hungry she was until she walked into the apartment that smelled like Chinese take-out. She gets rid of her jacket and her bag by throwing them on the couch.

"I'm starving." She says as she's washing her hands. She then places two plates on the table. "How was your day?" She reaches the cabinet in front of her to grab two glasses.

"Boring. I watched the last season of American Horror Story on Netflix. Not my greatest moment." Tessa places the containers on the table as she sits down on one of the chairs.

"Seriously? We were supposed to watch it together!" Leigh complains, outraged.

"Yeah. Like the time you were supposed to wait for me to see the last Avengers movie and you went with Mia." When Leigh hears Mia's name, her heart tightens.

"Shots fired." She smiles at her.

"What about your day? Any luck in seducing your customers?"

"I'm glad that you brought that up. I've met someone."

Tessa puts down her chopsticks and crosses her arms. "Let me think. She's blonde. In her late twenties. She has very poor taste in books but she's pretty so you're ok to ignore it."

"No!" It's all she can think of to say in her defense. Her roommate stares at her knowing she has perfectly guessed it right. "Ok, fine! She is blonde." Leigh rolls her eyes.

"And...?" Tessa smiles.

"She has poor taste in books, indeed. But in her defense, she said that it wasn't for her."

"They always come up with some bullshit excuse as to why they were reading the Da Vinci Code."

Leigh laughs, Tessa is right. All her previous relationships had been disastrous when she came to think of it. Tessa always said that she would end up with a girl who reads Tolstoy and that if that girl didn't enjoy Russian literature, the relationship was doomed to fail. _Should I add to my Tinder profile: will go out with you if you dig Russian literature #tolstoy?_

While she is helping Tessa with the leftovers, her phone vibrates repeatedly. She was receiving a bunch of texts.

"You think it's her? What's her name?" asks Tessa.

"Grace. But I don't think it's her. You don't double text right away."

"Meh. You should go out with a girl who's not afraid to do that. Mature women are not afraid to double text." Tessa notices Leigh continues to clean the kitchen without trying to find out who sent her messages. "Aren't you going to check who it is?"

"It's probably my parents." Leigh shrugs.

"I want to know if it's Grace." Tessa insists.

Leigh laughs and picks up her phone on the countertop. She had received two messages. A text message from her mother asking her when she would come to visit them and a second message, from an unknown number.

"One text from my mom and one from an unknown number."

"So, what does it say?" Tessa asks, sparked with interest.

"She asked me when I will be going to visit them."

Tessa sighs. "I meant from an unknown number!" She says getting impatient.

"Oh really?" Leigh teases. "Okay. It says 'Hi, stranger.' Just that."

"That sounds very flirtatious." She jokes. "So, what are you going to reply?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking of 'Hi' maybe 'Hey' or let's get a little wild. How about 'What's up'." Leigh says, enjoying herself. "I think I should wait a couple of hours before texting back, I don't want to seem desperate."

"You hit on your female customers while they're shopping. I think they know that you're desperate." Leigh acts like she's sulking.

"Just stating the facts, sweetie." She shrugs. "I'm heading to sleep. You let me know how it turned out in the morning."

"Sure. Goodnight."

Leigh sat comfortably in her bed and started typing on her phone. _**Hey, Grace.**_ It was not the most original answer but the fact that she put 'Grace' shows that she was adding a personal touch to her message. She tries to stay awake to wait for the blonde's reply, but she falls asleep almost immediately, with her phone still in her hands.


End file.
